Established in the year 2005 Fair Trade Alliance Kerala (FTAK) is an organization of small holder farmers drawn from the hilly regions of the western Ghats of Kerala. The organization evolved as a response to the agrarian crisis of poverty and indebtedness that gripped Kerala during the beginning of the 21st century, when producers were not even getting the cost of production for much of their produce.
FTAK aimed to address the crisis and to try and find solutions. This led to collaborative action with producers, distributors and consumers to try and create a more just system, where trade is not just to make profit but is an exchange with a human face. FTAK aims to ensure that small scale farming is a sustainable occupation. Through working under Fair Trade principles farmers are given a fair price for their products and sustainable farming means that farming protects and nurtures the land as well as the workers.